Sunday, January 01, 2017

Rapper 'Apathy' Is Indeed a Mason

Brother Tom Accuosti in Connecticut reports that internationally known rap artist and producer 'Apathy,' otherwise known as Chad Bromley, is a Connecticut Freemason and is featured in the January edition of the Grand Lodge of Connecticut's magazine. (He's seen on the cover, posing in the Egyptian Room of the New Haven Temple.)

A glance at his discography reveals a couple of telltale titles, including his 2015 release, The Black Lodge, and the upcoming album The Widow's Son, announced for the new year. His 2014 video The Grand Levelerfeatures wall to wall Masonic symbolism, and is largely shot in a lodge.At least Brother Apathy's Masonic allusions in his work are bona fide, unlike so many other musicians like Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Jay Z, and others displaying 'Illuminati' symbols and references without knowing a single thing about them, in some marketing attempt to be 'edgy.' In real life, I understand Bromley is quite contemplative and truly practices the precepts of the fraternity. That's both refreshing and reassuring.He is a member of Wooster Lodge No. 10 in Colchester, CT, and is also affiliated with Brainard No. 102 in Niantic.

UPDATE 1/3/17: The January 2017 issue of Connecticut Freemasons has been put online and can be seen HERE. The interview with Brother Chad Bromley by Ryan Howard begins on page 3 and continues on page 6.Interestingly, he addresses questions that have arisen from Masons who have expressed concerns over the profanity and violence that have appeared in some of his music (and other rap and hip hop lyrics and videos):

"I’m very unapologetic about the profanity and adult material in my music. It’s entertainment. It’s my career...and I know what I’m doing. I’m a professional at what I do. Some brothers have had issues with my songs that have foul language or violence. But if Robert DeNiro was a Master Mason, those same brothers wouldn’t say a thing to him about cursing and violence in his movies. It’s the exact same thing. Entertainment and art."

Brother Bromley's Masonic references and imagery and his open discussions of the fraternity with his thousands of fans have influenced many into looking deeper into Freemasonry for themselves. He has privately assisted many of them in petitioning lodges all over the country and the world. If just 5% of his audience pokes around on the web, or tours a Masonic temple, or asks their grandfather why he's wearing a Masonic ring, he has done a great service to the fraternity, as well as to those individuals on a personal level. However, at the end of the interview, he has a few extraordinarily wise words of caution aimed at anyone who seeks Masonic membership based merely on superficial interest, celebrity worship, or momentary curiosity:

Freemasonry isn’t a fast food, microwaved experience. You don’t join a lodge, and they hand you over some ancient book of secret esoteric wisdom and hidden truths. That book doesn’t exist. Freemasonry is completely what YOU make it. If you joined because you read a Dan Brown novel, or saw a crazy YouTube video...you’ll probably be bored after the first year, and end up not coming back to lodge. You have to make connections with like minded brothers... travel. Fall in love with the words, lectures, ideals, morality and work of the craft. Don’t be stagnant, just showing up to business meetings and degree after degree and wonder why you’re bored. There’s so much to learn and see. It just takes a lot of work. But it’s worth it.

That is awesome that he made this. Freemasonry as an institution all over the states is dying off. Wit him actually declaring that he is a Brother, really bring Freemasonry back to the forefront. I will use that Rap Grand Leveler as a tool to show EA's and FC's that there is more that meets the eye. We need for rappers to break it down and we need to do away with Cowans and eavesdroppers in the rap industry playing "Mason" but who are not Masons.

ATTENTION!Kindly sign your comment posts. Anonymous postings on Masonic topics have the same status as cowans and eavesdroppers, as far as I am concerned, and may be deleted if I don't recognize you or if I'm in a grumpy mood.

A mythic past. A visionary future. A legendary brotherhood.

Freemasonry is the largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity in the world. Historically, it is based on the Medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Mythologically it is founded upon the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, as told in the Old Testament of the Bible. Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those earlier stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men.

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Chris received his higher education at Indiana University, the University of Southern California, Los Angeles Valley College, California State University at Northridge, and Indiana/Purdue University at Indianapolis.

He spent twenty-three years in advertising as a commercial filmmaker for Dean Crow Productions, shooting and editing close to 1,000 commercials, music videos and feature films. He has written scripts for corporate and non-profit clients, and his voice has appeared in countless television and radio commercials.

He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith"by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focussing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

Hodapp and Alice Von Kannon developed episode outlines for the History Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded in 2010, and contributed material on conspiracies and secret societies for TruTV and the American Heroes Channel. They have both appeared on National Public Radio, the History Channel, Discovery, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and the American Heroes Channel - most recently in 2017 on America: Facts vs Fiction.

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